Also known as
All These Endearing Young Charms, Behold My Love, Believe Me, Believe Me All Those Endearing Young Charms, Believe Me If All These Endearing Young Charms, Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms, Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms, Endearing Young Charms, I Lo’e Na A Laddie But Ane, My Lodging Is In The Cold Field, My Lodging Is On The Cold Ground, My Lodgings, My Lodgings In The Cold Field, My Lodgings In The Cold Ground, Those Endearing Young Charms.

Thirteen comments

All those endearing young charms

Title and speed

The title I know is "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms", which is the first line of a poem by Thomas Moore (See http://ingeb.org/songs/believem.html ). As far as I know the music was written to the poem. I have heard this tune at various speeds, often as a kind of medium waltz with quavers = 90 - 100 (if notated as 6/8). Personally, I prefer it slightly slower, since I believe that this brings out the grace that this melody carries best.

Waltz set

I have always used this tune as the opener for a waltz set, going on to "the south wind", and finishing with "fanny power".
Possibly the three most hackneyed tunes in the entire tradition, but they only get hackneyed because they are good.

All those endearing young charms

According to George Farquhar Graham (in ‘The Popular Songs and Melodies of Scotland’, 1893), who I reckon knew what he was talking about:

"The air has been claimed alike by England, Scotland and Ireland; the probability however seems to be, that it is an old English dance tune, and that the Scottish version…is an early form of it….The received version of the air, known as "My Lodging Is On the Cold Ground" may be prettier, but it is more artificial and more modern in style…"

The Scottish version alluded to is known by the title of a song to that tune called "I Lo’e Na a Laddie But Ane":

This version is found in Aird’s collection of 1784. Incidentally, although ("Believe Me If All…") was claimed for Ireland by Moore (Irish Melodies), Bunting apparently disclaimed any knowledge of it as an Irish tune, not having been played by any of the harpers at the 1792 Belfast assembly, or by any others he sought out in his subsequent travels through Ireland.

Whatever its history and origins, this remains a recognisible and popular tune among more than one generation.

Irish?

In Northumberland this tune is usually called My Lodgings, or My Lodgings in the cold field.
I always believed that the name "Believe me if all those endearing young charms" is the name it is given in Thomas Moore. There is certainly a set of words sung to it starting like that.
I have never checked this mind, just taken people’s word for it.

I’ve always thought of this as a music hall song, of the same ilk as gems such as ‘I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen’ and ‘My Irish m
Molly-O’. But the air could well be much older than that. I have heard other airs related this one, which suggests that it has been around for a while.

I once met a ‘celtic’ harp player (‘harpist’ sounds too classical, ‘harper’ sounds too much like one of the original Irish harpers, which he was certainly not ) busking in London, and asked if he played any O’Carolan tunes. He responded by playing this tune. I thanked him and complimented him on his playing, and suggested the possibilty that this might not actually be an O’Carolan composition - but he was utterly convinced. I doubted my sanity for a while, but suggesting this to someone else was met with ridicule. I think we can rule out that possibilty, anyway.

I lo’e na a laddie but ane

Nigel — I’m not sure about the policy — should "I lo’e na a laddie but ane" be added as a tune in its own right, since it features the held B, E, and D notes so prominently? That sheet music is also featured in Neil’s Scots Fiddle Vol. 2, using that title. Here’s part of the descriptive text from The Scots Fiddle Vol. 2:

"The original version of the music appears o be a modification of an Irish tune called ‘My Lodging is on the Cold Ground.’ The tune used [for this transcription] is an adaptation of the slow air in David Glen’s ‘Highland Bagpipe Tutor 1887.’"

This air which Moore used for his poem, is also used as the air for an old song called ‘The Man you don’t meet everyday’ The tune with that sentiment in mind, was one of the airs played by the Pipes at Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965. Which song came first, I have no idea.